Small farmers and the Doha Round : lessons from Mexico’s NAFTA experience

No. 08-12. Juillet 2008

Abstract

This policy brief has been written in the context of the demand of developing countries, including India, in the on-going Doha round of WTO negotiations for policy space within which protect the livelihood security of their small and marginal farmers. It uses Mexican agriculture’s integration experience under NAFTA to establish that developing country demands are justified. It points out that despite the gains Mexican agriculture has made under NAFTA, the very nature of those gains meant that the brunt of adjustment was borne by small and marginal farmers. This came about both because of the retrenchment of the state and the nature of investment flows under NAFTA. Finally it suggests an alternative agricultural modernisation model centered on small and marginal farmers and maximisation of employment growth.